Zhou Jianlai carried four sesame cakes and knocked on the wooden door of the small courtyard.
The old woman selling sesame seed cakes was very friendly and enthusiastic. Not only did she promise to give him credit, she also specially wrapped four hot sesame seed cakes for him, freshly baked from the oven. He also enthusiastically told him that Old Wei had bad teeth, and the hot biscuits just out of the oven were crispy and chewy, so they were just right.
"Who is it?" There was a knock on the wooden door, and an old voice came from the yard.
"Senior, junior Zhou Jianlai was fortunate enough to be recommended by Master Tianwu. He learned that the senior possessed amazing skills. The junior was bold and took the liberty to come to the door, eager to learn from his master. I hope that the senior will not be too stupid to accept the disciple." Zhou Jianlai said with anxiety, for fear of Get shut down.
After a moment of silence, a response came from the courtyard: "Come in."
Zhou Jianlai immediately breathed a sigh of relief, pushed open the wooden door, and stepped into the yard. It was obviously noon when the sun was blazing, but as soon as he entered the courtyard, he felt a cold breath sweep through his body, almost making him shiver.
"Senior, this disciple has taken the liberty to disturb you." Zhou Jianlai's eyes found Wei Zi's figure in Erjin's courtyard.
Wei Zi was sitting at the stone table in the inner courtyard with his back to the courtyard door. There were two side dishes and a pot of wine on the table. He was drinking and eating alone. When he heard Zhou Jianlai pushing the door in, he didn't turn around and just asked: "Lunch." have you eaten?"
"I haven't eaten." Zhou Jianlai replied honestly.
"Come over and have something to eat."
"Okay." Perhaps because he had been hanging around the informal Tianwu Taoist for a long time, Zhou Jianlai was very honest during the meal and was not polite to Wei Zi at all. He said: "Senior, I passed by the street and gave you some food. I wonder if Zhang Shaobing suits your taste?"
"Mrs. Wang has been making sesame cakes for decades, and her skills are excellent."
"Senior, it's good if you like it." Zhou Jianlai couldn't help but feel proud, thinking that thanks to his clever idea, he had the audacity to buy four sesame seed cakes on credit, thus resolving the embarrassment of showing up empty-handed.
Zhou Jianlai quietly looked at the scenery of the yard as he walked.
This is a two-entry courtyard facing north and south. The courtyard is not very big, but the south-facing wall of the inner courtyard was removed, turning the inner and outer courtyards into one courtyard, so it looks spacious and deep.
Two rows of pines and cypresses were planted near the courtyard wall. Although they were all dead, the fine branches and leaves of the pines and cypresses were still hanging on the trunks, blocking most of the sunlight, making the courtyard faint and eerie.
Under the pines and cypresses on the west side of the courtyard wall, there are several small mounds. There is some paper ashes in front of one of the mounds. It seems that it must have been burned in the past two days. Zhou Jianlai couldn't help but feel a bit creepy. It was just a matter of planting pines and cypresses in the yard. He even buried a grave in the yard, which was weird.
However, what frightened him even more was what came next. When his eyes crossed Wei Zi's and entered the main hall with the wide open door, and landed on the rows of memorial tablets, he couldn't help but feel horrified. And when he saw the names on the spirit tablets, they were all the ancestors of the Wei family of the previous royal family. Among them, the twelve emperors of the Wei Dynasty were prominently in the middle. Zhou Jianlai couldn't help but feel a chill on his spine.
However, Zhou Jianlai quickly felt relieved when he thought that the old man in front of him was the last son of the previous royal family. It was only natural for future generations to enshrine their ancestors' spiritual tablets. Even Emperor Su couldn't say anything when he came.
The doors of the four east and west wing rooms are also open. Just like in the main hall, they also contain the spiritual tablets of the ancestors of the Wei family.
"Senior" Zhou Jianlai walked to the stone table, suppressed the fear in his heart, and saluted Wei Zi respectfully.
"Sit down." Wei Zi raised his hand and pointed to the stone bench beside him.
"Thank you, senior." Zhou Jianlai sat down on the stone bench, hurriedly brought the sesame cake in front of Wei Zi, untied the oil paper, and said: "It's freshly baked, senior, eat it while it's hot."
Wei Zi smiled and said, "I'm old and can't eat much. One is enough." He picked up a piece of sesame seed cake, pushed the remaining three in front of Zhou Jianlai, and said, "You can eat it."
"Yes." Zhou Jianlai nodded happily, feeling that the gentleness of the Duke of Wei in front of him was like an ordinary and kind grandfather next door, which calmed his uneasy heart.
"Do you want to drink?" Wei Zi picked up the flask and poured himself a glass of wine, and asked Zhou Jianlai at the same time.
"Is it okay?" Zhou Jianlai asked carefully.
"Haha, if you like it, just drink it. If you don't like it, don't drink it. There's nothing wrong with it." Wei Zi said with a smile.
"Then the junior will dare to offend and accompany you.
Senior, have a drink. "Zhou Jianlai picked up a wine glass from the tea tray, then took the wine pot from Wei Zi's hand. He first respectfully put a little bit into Wei Zi's wine glass, then filled up his own wine glass. He picked up the wine glass and said to Wei Zi: "Junior respects senior. , I wish my seniors longevity, prosperity, and good health. "
"Okay." Wei Zi happily picked up the wine glass, took a big sip, and said, "It's been a long time since I've had anyone drink with me."
"Ahem, cough, cough." Zhou Jianlai took a sip of wine into his throat. He choked and coughed repeatedly. His face turned red and he explained in embarrassment: "The junior smelled the fresh and fragrant aroma of the wine, and thought it was light and soft flower wine. I never expected it. He's so strong, it's a joke to seniors."
"Haha" Wei Zi laughed while stroking his beard and asked, "How do you feel?"
"Good wine." Zhou Jianlai gave a thumbs up and said, "The strong wine enters the throat, the fragrance is lingering, just like the knight wielding the sword in the end of the world, who cannot do without the company of a beautiful woman."
"Yes." Wei Zi sighed and said quietly: "If I can wield a sword in this life and be accompanied by beautiful women from all over the world, what else can I ask for?"
"Yes." Zhou Jianlai sighed with emotion, a look of yearning appearing on his face.
At this moment, it was as if time had stood still. An old man and a young man were holding wine glasses. The old man lamented the passing of his youth, while the young man yearned for a better tomorrow. A strange feeling of mutual sympathy quietly appeared between the old and the young.
"Want to learn swordsmanship?" Wei Zi broke the silence.
"I think so." Zhou Jianlai nodded without hesitation.
"Then you have to ask them if they are willing to teach Wei's swordsmanship to an outsider like you?" Wei Zi said, pointing to the spiritual tablets in the five houses.
"Junior is stupid, please give me some advice from senior." Zhou Jianlai didn't understand.
"Go to each room, kowtow three times, burn a stick of incense, and when the incense is burned out, it will be considered as if they have agreed to you. Let's start from this room." Wei Zi pointed to the south room of the west wing and said.
Zhou Jianlai was confused and didn't understand. He thought it was very simple, but from Wei Zi's tone, it seemed that it was not easy to do.
"With their consent, I will teach you Wei's sword technique." Wei Zi said.
Zhou Jianlai drank the rest of the wine in the glass, stood up and cupped his hands towards Wei Zi, then turned and walked towards the room Wei Zi pointed to.
Wei Zi waved his robe sleeves, and an invisible force shot into the room. There was only a clear clicking sound, as if something was broken. Following this slight sound, a cold and biting wind suddenly surged out of the room and hit Zhou Jianlai head-on, making him shiver. Immediately afterwards, a majestic momentum rushed out from the room and pressed on Zhou Jianlai, making it difficult for him to breathe.
"Sword Intent!" Zhou Jianlai was shocked. He was very familiar with this majestic momentum. It turned out to be Sword Intent. He calmed down his expression and became dignified and serious. The Sword Intent spurted out to compete with the Sword Intent pouring out of the room.
After taking one step, two steps, and three steps until he reached the door, he stopped and a blush flowed from the corner of his mouth. Kenshin's will was already on the verge of collapse, and he did not dare to take another step forward.
Zhou Jianlai now understood what Wei Zi's words meant. However, he did not rush to rejoice, because this was both a test and an excellent opportunity to practice. He immediately sat down cross-legged in front of the door, closed his eyes, calmed down, and carefully felt the sword intent pouring out of the room.
…
"You bitch, you promised not to slap me in the face!" In the Li family's martial arts training ground, Niu Dawa was punched in the face by Li Hongwu. His mouth and nose suddenly started to bleed. He was so angry that he flew into a rage. He shook his arms and tiger His body trembled, the muscles all over his body suddenly bulged, and his clothes burst apart with a hiss. Fortunately, his pants were loose, otherwise he would have had a naked fight with Li Hongwu. Immediately afterwards, a bronze light suddenly appeared on his body, and he beat his chest angrily with his fists, making a clanging sound of gold and iron.
When Tianwu Taoist on the sidelines saw this scene, his eyes suddenly widened and he shouted: "Isn't this the old bald donkey's magical power of indestructibility? Damn, that treacherous old dog couldn't have stolen into the Shaolin Temple's treasure trove." Jingge, right?"
boom!
Zhang Xiaozu fell to the ground, rolled his body more than ten times before he stopped, spat out bloody spit, and threw himself at Li Hongbo and Li Hongtao again.
His combat power can already defeat either Li Hongbo or Li Hongtao, but he is no match for the sixth level of the Sea Realm, so Tianwu Taoist made him fight one against two, and narrowed the fighting circle to limit his dodge space.
The trumpet is blown, the sword is sharpened and the sword is polished.
The three leaders of half of the bandits are seizing the moment of tranquility before the war to desperately improve their own strength.
…
On May 11th, the city lord Qi Wuwei issued an order to collect supplies for the war. Poor people were exempted from the levy, while the wealthy merchants and gentry of the family were subject to heavy levies. Those who refused to resist the levy were killed.
That day, the whole Yancheng was in a bloody turmoil. Dozens of families had their homes ransacked. Hundreds of people were beheaded by wealthy businessmen and gentry and hung up under the city gate for public display.
The common people clapped their hands and applauded, while the wealthy businessmen, gentry, and clan members wailed and screamed.
…
On May 12th, a hundred thousand troops left the north gate of Yancheng and sailed into Baihuang Mountain.
Situ Qing and Tang Jiucai were in the army.
On that day, a rebel envoy came from Dongwang City, saying that he had important matters to discuss with Qi Wuwei on the orders of the rebel king Li Yuande.
Qi Wuwei didn't even see the envoy, so he ordered his head to be chopped off and hung at the city gate.
The two armies were fighting, but Qi Wuwei broke the rules without killing the envoy, intending to tell the rebel king Li Yuande that there was nothing to talk about between them. The truth will be seen on the battlefield.
…
On May 13th, the city lord Qi Wuwei issued a conscription order. Anyone who was young and strong could sign up. Those who signed up to join the army would receive a bowl of water and a bowl of millet for their families every day.
The treatment was generous, and a million-strong army was assembled that day.
…
On May 14, Yu Wenrui, a closed disciple of Yaoxian and the future successor of Yaowang Valley, raised his arms and shouted, calling on the rising talents of Yancheng and other major sects to gather together to discuss the plan to suppress the rebellion and drive out the big-toothed dog. .
The city lord's palace sent out people and sent invitations widely.
The banquet time is 7pm on the 16th.
The banquet location is the City Lord's Mansion.
…
At noon on the 15th, in the Dongcheng District of North Bucheng, Zhu Zizhen was lying in a comfortable bamboo chair in the small courtyard, hiding in the shade under the eaves to enjoy the coolness. He held a piece of white paper in his hand and raised it to his eyes from time to time. Look at it carefully, then sigh and put it down again.
In the yard, Lu Kaixue was drying some herbs. He guessed that Zhang Xiaozhu and the other three were likely to join the army to kill the enemy, so he was preparing some medicine for them to treat trauma.
Wu Dayou squatted under the wall, smoking a cigarette pot. Unfortunately, there was no shredded tobacco in the cigarette pot. He was just doing it for fun. There was tobacco, but he didn't dare to smoke, because smoking would make him thirsty. The water was gold now, so he didn't dare to drink more.
Zhu Ziqiong's maid is teaching Wu Dayou's granddaughter Xi'er to do needlework.
Compared with the tense atmosphere in Yancheng, the five people in the yard lived a very comfortable life.
"Sir, don't think about it. Your brows are wrinkled. Unless the master of the Wei family comes back from the dead, no one will know what the meaning of this piece of paper is." The maid saw that her young master took out her from his arms again. After studying the blank piece of paper I found at Wei's house, I couldn't help but feel distressed.
"Maybe it's a road map to hide the treasure." Wu Dayou guessed. He had said this dozens of times.
"Master Zhu, don't even think about it." Lu Kaixue also advised, "I think it's just a secret code. Only the Master of the Wei family knows it, and it means nothing to others."
"Really?" Zhu Zixuan murmured in response, then raised the note in his hand to his eyes, and said to himself: "I think it should be a very important thing, otherwise how could it be hidden so secretly. But what exactly is it? what?"
Zhu Zizhen turned sideways, stretched out his hands to open the white paper, and looked at it in the dazzling sunlight, trying to find any clues. However, he has used this method countless times. If there were any clues, he should have discovered it long ago.
This time, Zhu Ziqiong had a stubborn temper. He opened his eyes wide open without even blinking, staring at the white paper and searching carefully bit by bit. After a quarter of an hour, he was so blinded by the sunlight that he couldn't help but feel dizzy. Feeling sick, I turned my body sideways and closed my eyes to rest.
"Ah" without any warning, a sharp and piercing scream of terror pierced the sky above the small courtyard.
"What's wrong?!" Zhu Zizhen was so frightened that he almost fell off the recliner.
Lu Kaixue and Wu Dayou were also frightened and looked at the maid in a hurry.
The maid seemed to have seen a ghost, and the frightened expression on her face made her handsome features distort. She stood up suddenly, and the sewing basket on her legs flew far away. She grabbed a big red cloth in her hand and rushed towards Zhu Zixuan.
